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[–] 168 points 4 months ago (12 children)

No functioning democracy allows their representatives to sit for twelve terms.

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  • [–] 46 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (13 children)

    Eh, I get what you're saying, but term limits aren't a prerequisite for democracies.

    The problem was neoliberals ran the party for generations and would blackmail blackball anyone that worked on a primary against a neoliberal incumbent.

    Even to the point they were robbing state parties and threatening to cut entire state parties off of their reps didn't toe the line.

    That's over, it's been over for a year.

    Even if the current DNC chair did a 180 as I'm typing this, he's been dumping all the money stolen via the Victory Fund back on state parties. The DNC couldn't use the old threats if they wanted to.

    Without that pressure from the top, progressives will replace neoliberal and republican incumbents.

    And if a progressive gets thru the presidential primary and into the Oval, then they get to name the next DNC president.

    That's what pisses me off the most these days....

    I spent decades trying to convince people the DNC was a problem. And as soon as the voting members fixed it, everyone started to realize how bad it was, but not that it's been fixed.

    I don't understand how people keep falling for billionaire propaganda.

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I don’t understand how people keep falling for billionaire propaganda.

    Because there is, quite literally, nothing else. Who is talking about it being fixed besides you? Anybody with any credibility?

    The DNC's problem is exemplified by the old joke - If a Democrat found a magic lamp, rubbed it, and got three wishes from a djinn, they'd negotiate down to one and then wish for whatever the nearest Republican wants.

    The DNC doesn't stand for anything beyond lining the pockets of insider traders like Nancy Pelosi. Same as the Republicans, just minus all the goosestepping, conspiracy theories, and shilling for supplements. They aren't the same, but being the only alternative doesn't inherently make them better by default. They lost the plot trying to make the Clintons into a dynasty.

    Fixing the systemic problems at the root of this goes all the way back to how these parties responded to Ross Perot and the elimination of third party viability. A strictly two party system is not a functional democracy. It's a one party system masquerading as two parties.

    There's really one political party in the USA - the monied party. Which is why there's so much billionaire propaganda for people to fall for.

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago* (6 children)

    Who is talking about it being fixed besides you? Anybody with any credibility?

    NPR is a fantastic resource...

    Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin says President Trump is a "dictator-in-chief" whose agenda is "fascism dressed in a red tie" and his party must fight back against his policies.

    "Now look, folks, I'm sick and tired of this Democratic party bringing a pencil to a knife fight," Martin said. "We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore. We've got to stand up and fight. We're not going to have a hand tied behind our back anymore."

    Speaking during the first session of the DNC's summer meeting in Minneapolis on Monday, Martin said the Democratic Party has to stop trying to win arguments over policy and politics and do more to win future elections.

    ">You know what winning the argument gets you? A nice round of applause and a few likes on Instagram," Martin said. "But the reality is it doesn't make life any better for any person. We have to stop settling on winning arguments with each other. We have to win elections."

    https://www.npr.org/2025/08/26/nx-s1-5515631/dnc-democrats-ken-martin-trump-facism

    Fixing the systemic problems at the root

    Is what happened over a year ago when the ~400 voting members of the DNC pivoted away from neoliberals...

    If the last year wasn't enough, look at his track record in Minnesota and what happened during the decade he ran it

    He's a known quantity, the last year of gains hasn't been a fluke, and everyone is just as much "not trump" in those elections as they've always been.

    The DNC doesn’t stand for anything

    This is the problem...

    You think of the DMC as an entity...

    It's not, it's ~400 people that vote for a dictator for four years if and only if a Republican wins the presidency.

    2025 was the first time since 2017 since those ~400 got a say, because we settled for Biden as voters in the middle. They fucked up in 2017, they didn't know what to do and Hillary and the "victory fund" was the only thing keeping them from bankruptcy, and that came with strings.

    But by 2025 a lot of them were dead or no longer voting members, and a few had changed their mind.

    So we pivoted

    You have to understand how the system works, to understand when it changes, why it changes, and how it changes

    I 100% understand the anger with "the party" and for the last 30 years I'd agreed with you, if I was older I'd have agreed for longer.

    But shit changed, and if Martin paves the wave for FDR 2.0, that's who picks the next head of the DNC.

    You can be mad it's a long process, but don't fucking spend your time telling everyone to quit a marathon when we're 200 yards from the finish line and no ones in sight behind us.

    You have no fucking clue how hard it's been to get this close, this is not the time to quit.

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    12 terms sounds ridiculous, but they're only 2 year terms. That's far too short, and only keeps every Congressional Rep in constant reelection mode. No wonder Congress does such a crappy job, they're always raising money, and/or campaigning.

    They should have a 4 year term, with 50% being elected in the Midterms and the Presidential elections.

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago

    Agreed. Plato even wrote about it in Laws.

    In "Laws," Plato suggests that senators should serve for a term of one year to ensure that they remain accountable and do not become too entrenched in power.

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    [–] 58 points 4 months ago

    death is the new political retirement

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  • [–] 52 points 4 months ago* (5 children)

    Something like 120 in congress are over 70 years old, so over 20%.

    bOtH pArTiEs are unwilling to fix this, that 20% are of course much more powerful than newer members. Maxine Waters, Mitch McConnell, and others are over 80; McConnell is visibly, horribly, embarrassingly impaired, and still in office. Maxine is 87 and is the modern incarnation of Smaug, sitting upon her immense treasure hoard.

    Yet another humiliation for Americans... and they have the best healthcare insurance on Earth, while the lifespan of their own constituents falls.

    Go ahead and vote, but I don't think we can vote our way out of this and that change must be forced upon them by others.

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  • [–] 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    John Roberts was 67 when his geriatric lapse rendered the 2024 election illegitimate and fraudulent.

    79% of Americans want age caps.

    Pilots are retired at 65 years old.

    The unfolding geriatric catastrophe of the White House is enabled by Democratic Party failure to press the issue of age. Geriatrics with a stranglehold on party politics damned us to continued geriatric incompetence.

    It follows that the only path to restoring the constitutional order is the immediate removal of all geriatric politicians at every level. Federal, State, Judiciary, Legislative, Executive. 100% gone.

    It's not difficult: "respect for elders" shouldn't be a suicide pact.

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    [–] 47 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Time to turn it over to the next generation. Oh wait. The next generation already hit retirement age!

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  • [–] 47 points 4 months ago (8 children)

    all federal employees should have mandatory retirement at 70. Including congress, judges, and president.

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    [–] 41 points 4 months ago

    Jesus Christ. Get the old fucks out of Congress.

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  • [–] 38 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I know some really spry 80 year olds but I wouldn’t trust any of them with such responsibility. They’re out of touch, forgetful, etc. Great partners for golf, gaming, and other forms of entertainment but I don’t want them in charge of anything.

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    [–] 32 points 4 months ago

    Don't worry, they'll find some 79 year old to take his place.

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  • [–] 27 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Condolences, but 80 is too fucking old.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    In the last two years 8 Congressmen have died in office. 7 of them were Democrats, and only two were younger than 70, and none younger than 65.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_who_died_in_office_(2000%E2%80%93present)

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  • [–] 21 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    How soon until we get term limits for these ancient fucks?

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago

    Term Limits are a ‘Monkey’s Paw’ wish waiting to happen; it will just shift the power from the elected representatives to unelected staffers, advisors and lobbyists.

    The correct solution is to have a forced retirement age for politicians - if you’re old enough to receive a pension, you’re too old to hold elected office.

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    [–] 18 points 4 months ago

    Maximum age for first term should be 59 and no more than 8 years. That puts them at 67 and they should retire.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    If I believed in God, I'd say that it sounds like God had other plans.

    But I don't. Maybe he should have enjoyed his retirement while he could.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Term limits or age cap please.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago

    I'm all for an age cap. It should be dynamic and based on some sort of percentage of the average lifespan of the population in their area.

    It would provide a good incentive for them to vote in/pass legislation which would help raise the overall life expectancy of everyone.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago

    Whenever an elected official has a heart attack, stroke, or cancer they should have to publicly disclose it.

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago

    There's an oddly well written scientific paper on Death in Congress. Made me laugh out loud.

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 child)

    I don't know. As I get older I am developing opinions. A lot of them. On everything! What sauce is best with cheeseburgers. How short should my neighbours' lawn be. Should banks be open on sundays.

    By 80, if I'm still kicking, I'll be ready to discuss any boring topic for hours before a vote. Anything.

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    [–] 11 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    I would say that no person should be able to run for office after the federal retirement age, but I suspect that would just lead to retirement age being raised.

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    [–] 10 points 4 months ago

    They need to fix those age requirements. Even God wanted that guy to retire but he was hanging on.

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  • [–] 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Wow dies and still seeks a 13th term after. That's how you know we really need age limits.

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    [–] 8 points 4 months ago

    If there are age minimums, there should be maximums

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    I'm fairly ignorant of the US, so I read this as:

    Republican David Scott, a Georgia Democrat...

    and was slightly confused.

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    [–] 6 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I don't even want to imagine what kind of wild takes would an 80yo republican possess

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    [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Age limits and Term limits please. You're not going to be doing any high level job well enough like this where people's futures are at stake at 80.

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